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Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

fdpod.com

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Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#51

Post by _delirium »

brianmcconnell wrote: post #42
epoxyhockey wrote: post #33

One of the more frustrating things about working in the Bay Area is having to deal with finicky personalities like the OP's boss & CEO. It really takes a psychopath to court a potential hire so hard and then fire them 5 weeks later due to their appearance (after they sign a couple of large customers, btw). If this were NYC, I could understand stabbing someone in the back after they secure a couple of large customers.…

I watched a CEO fire someone he had recruited cross country just weeks after he had relocated his family to the Bay Area. They screwed him and his family over real good. Not long afterward, the CEO fired his outside accountant and made his wife the CFO of the company. I straight up asked if he was hiding something, knowing that he probably was and that my stock and bonus were fictional. I was fired immediately afterw…

There's a certain level of unethical behavior in termination that can lead to a successful termination lawsuit even in an at-will state like California. Outright bad-faith conduct still violates the implicit covenant of good faith and fair dealing, though it's a fairly high bar to be held in violation.

Cases where it's been found in the past include terminating an employee in a way calculated to harm the employee maximally, due to a boss settling a personal vendetta and being intemperate enough to say so; and engaging in a pattern of firing people just before promised benefits vest, in which case the company can be found to have been falsely promising benefits it never intended to deliver.

Hiring your wife as a CFA to cover up questionable dealings seems like it might be leaning in that direction...

Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#52

Post by FDpod »

PommeDeTerre wrote: post #24
brianmcconnell wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can imagine 99% of customers never putting two and two together in the first place. I talk to salespeople all the time, and not once have I thought to inquire about their personal interests, side projects, etc.

That may be true for you and the other 99% of customers. However, if that 1% of customers who do consider such things to matter are the most important of a given firm's customers, then their opinions on such issues can have an astronomical impact on the business.

Hi there. I'm the author of the piece (my friend just emailed me to tell me I'm on here - which is all sorts of cool and weird).

I didn't run the Full Disclosure site at the time but I was doing standup comedy, which certainly could've been one of the reasons. Comedians have to have a web presence, so if you were to google my name, videos of me doing standup may have appeared.

But to tell someone not to pursue their extracurricular passions while bludgeoning their soul during the day for a paycheck, just sucks. Maybe it's a reality, but it did not leave a good taste in my mouth about my employer.

Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#53

Post by mratzloff »

vinceguidry wrote: post #27
brianmcconnell wrote: post #13

Ah, the magic of "at will" employment. It's an excellent tool for those who rely on fear based management, and a horrible deal for employees. Based on my experience in the tech industry, I assume I am being lied to. Things have only gotten worse recently with all of the fast money sloshing around and the bad actors it has drawn in.

Yeah, it's to where if I get a whiff of dishonesty, I start submitting resumes. This is my third job since April and I've already started looking for the fourth. I used to think job-hopping would raise a red flag and keep me from getting hired, but it hasn't yet. I think if anything it signals value that you can find work at will.

It hasn't yet that you are aware of. I would immediately pass on your resume without a second glance. Four jobs in less than six months very strongly signals a number of negative things to prospective employers.

Perhaps the only companies willing to hire you now are those with high developer turnover who just need a warm body to fill the last vacated seat? And perhaps you are perpetuating that?

Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#54

Post by AliEzer »

cjensen wrote: post #26

His boss fired him and told him why? Never do that. When firing someone in an at-will state, just do it and explain nothing. Explanations can easily lead to lawsuits. It's just not worth the risk.

So in the US you don't have to give explanations? Damn that sucks for the ex-employee. In France you have to write a report in order to fire someone unless they're in their trial period.

Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#55

Post by FDpod »

toyg wrote: post #10
mathattack wrote: post #6

Very tough story. What I don't get is why someone who is so good at sales (the story supports this) is on food stamps. If you can say, "I landed clients A, B and C" then a competitor would hire you to do it for them too, no?

After an experience like this, somebody like him would probably swear never to put himself in that position again.

Yes. Exactly (I'm the author). I never want to work in a cubicle again. Which is what the whole Full Disclosure thing is, trying to create my own business as to never deal with this or these types of people again.

Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#56

Post by shubb »

md224 wrote: post #40
cjensen wrote: post #26

His boss fired him and told him why? Never do that. When firing someone in an at-will state, just do it and explain nothing. Explanations can easily lead to lawsuits. It's just not worth the risk.

Unrelated to the validity of this advice: it's kind of sad that our society has evolved legal structures that make it prohibitively risky to tell another human being why you're taking an action against them. Hmm... what if you could have an employee sign a release as a precondition of being told why they were fired?

I got a CV through the other day from a stranger.

The guy had some great experience but the CV was weird.

It was 10 pages long for 4 jobs. He listed every course he'd ever been sent on, including health and safety and diversity training ones, and just mixed his degree in somewhere with them. He listed each version of word he'd used (seemly every version released) with equal prominence as Java and SQL. Each time he'd been hired as a temp contractor he wrote his job title as CEO, because he was getting paid via his company.

My boss laughed at it and told me to bin it.

He needed to know what was wrong, or he'd stay unemployed (which was a shame for a guy with some great skills). I agonized for about a day and finally sent him some tips from my personal email, but I'm sure we could get sued if the strangeness was due to a disability. Something wrong there.

Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#57

Post by mjn »

freehunter wrote: post #38
ececconi wrote: post #29

> Human Resources is not your advocate. Human Resources is a risk-assessment department. Powerful statement.

This is basically why unions were formed in the first place. HR is there to protect the company, and they are owned by the company. Unions are there to protect the employees, and they are owned by the employees. I know the current attitude is against unions, and there are probably a lot of anti-union people on HN, for good reasons. Unions realized their power and became corrupt, became money-hungry, became power-hung…

I find my union in Denmark helpful. I think union systems operate quite differently in different countries, for a mixture of cultural, legal, and economic reasons. For me it's exactly as you indicate: HR represents the employer's interest, the union represents my interests, and the two negotiate mutually agreeable working conditions that represent a compromise between each side's wishlist.

Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#58

Post by walshemj »

epoxyhockey wrote: post #33

One of the more frustrating things about working in the Bay Area is having to deal with finicky personalities like the OP's boss & CEO. It really takes a psychopath to court a potential hire so hard and then fire them 5 weeks later due to their appearance (after they sign a couple of large customers, btw). If this were NYC, I could understand stabbing someone in the back after they secure a couple of large customers.…

Yeah I cant understand why they had such a problem with his look looks perfectly ok for a start up and slightly less hair product and a tie I could see him working for a blue chip.

When I interviewed at a start up I was introduced to our art director and my first thought man your nail varnish is chiped - he was an out tranny.

Sounds like the CEO is one of those people who should not be running a welk stall.

Personally if it was in the UK I would have seriously considered taking the company to a tribunal over this - and have a paid pit bull flay the CEO in public one guy I know in the field is a proper working class Glaswegian and makes Malcolm Tucker look like a little pussy cat.

Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#59

Post by HarrietJones »

I was cool with it until here :

"Well it turns out I could [be fired], unless it could be reasonably inferred that I was being fired for being part of a protected class. So had my boss said “The CEO thinks you dress like a faggot” or “The CEO thinks that’s what a nigger would wear”, things would have been different. But as it stands, the fact that my boss told me I was being fired related to appearance at all was definitely a dicey, questionable move."

I've no idea why he feels the need to talk about how "protected classes" can't be fired when he's talking about why he was fired, but it seems as if he's no idea why some people are protected based on their sex, sexuality or color.

Unless the author is gay, then “The CEO thinks you dress like a faggot” is in no way equivalent to "The CEO doesn't feel you have the right look for the company."

Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It

#60

Post by moron4hire »

PommeDeTerre wrote: post #21

Regardless of whether it's right or wrong, physical appearance can often have a big impact when dealing with certain clientele. Certain types of clients just prefer to deal with people who conform to what might be considered a more "conservative" appearance. Deviating from their expectations can reduce their level of trust, for instance, which can impact business dealings. This is especially true when dealing with cu…

It is wrong, which is why those clients can go piss up a rope.
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